Lunar New Year Homicide, Cont.

Detective W paced around the closet, trying to figure out what to do next. "What to do next?" he repeated to himself. "What to do next?"

The sirens wailed in the late night. Police rushed in and asked, "Where's the dead body?!"

Hua Xiu pointed to the closet. A group of white-coated pathologists marched into the room and took some pictures and notes. After taping her body outline, the pathologists carried her corpse to a police van.

The forensic investigators confirmed Detective W's thoughts. "She died of asphyxiation, sir," one of them reported. "We will doing a more detailed investigation."

"Good luck," Detective W replied. He instinctively rummaged in his pocket for a notepad. He quickly realized today was a break day for him. He grudgingly opened the notepad app and began asking his brother some questions.

Lei Hui stared at Detective W. "Am I a suspect?" he said, taking it all in rather well.

"No. You're not. At least I hope you're not." Detective W stated with a cool air. "Are you ready?"

"Sure. Go ahead. I'm all ears."

"Was this house built recently?"

"No. I actually bought it from a friend. This used to be a haunted house, just so you know."

Detective W twiddled his thumbs on the phone with the speed of a gazelle. "A haunted house, Lei Hui? Explain that in more detail."

"Oh, don't worry about the haunted house. It's a certified FAKE! If someone was actually murdered here way before... I don't know if I can take it anymore..."

'Given this situation...,' Detective W mused. 'You still want the house?' He shook the thoughts from his head and asked the next question. "What is this haunted house all about?"

"Oh. Just your usual run of the mill haunted house-in terms of monsters. Ghosts, zombies and the ilk. However, the one unusual thing is that those monsters pop out of anywhere. Any time. Each time when people thought they got away, the monsters would always be behind them. At least, that's what my friend told me."

"Do you know why they can be anywhere anytime?"

"How am I supposed to know? You ask the most stupid questions sometimes, W."

Detective W chuckled. "Okay, okay, my fault. Is there still a map of the previous haunted house?"

"Nope. Even if there is, it's no use. I renovated the house. The map should be completely different now."

"Okay, okay. Can I see the house's current floor plans?"

"Be my guest," Lei Hui said and led him to one of the guest rooms. On the wall was an enlarged copy of the floor plans framed in dark wood frames. Detective W took a picture and saved it for future analysis.

Detective W took a deep breath. The questions were now getting into the dangerous territory. Lei Hui, for one, didn't appreciate any questions that dealt with his friends' loyalties and personalities. But, for Detective W, these answers were crucial.

"Lei Hui, do you... know of any conflict between your friends?" Detective W took the careful approach.

To his surprise, Lei Hui was more open about this. "Given that there's a dead friend here, I guess I can spill out some beans."

"Just get to the point, please."

"See, all four of my friends have some sort of problem with each other."

"Not surprised at all. Continue." Detective W interjected.

"You know, Meng Yang Hu used to be Lily's boyfriend. They broke up because Yang Hu's exercising tendencies... is overboard for her."

"Overboard? How overboard?"

"How am I supposed to know? Judging from the thick-ass veins popping from his arms, I will say probably so. Steroids, y'know?"

"So, how did Yang Hu react to all of this?"

"He broke several of her prized jade necklaces. That's all I know."

"How about the rest of them?"

"Yua had some financial troubles. Her stocks had gone down. After borrowing from Lily, Yang Hu, and Pang Zi, she never returned the money."

"What's Pang Zi's situation like?"

"Exorbitant rates and faulty electrical wiring. Those three used to be his customers. It didn't use to be that at first, but now everyone has caught on to him."

"So why are you still friends?" Detective W asked. He was amazed by Lei Hui's everlasting belief in his friends.

Lei Hui ignored that question. "Is that all you wanted to ask me?" he asked in a cold voice.

Detective W raised his hands up and shook his head. "No, Lei Hui. Thanks for that enlightening info."

He then analyzed the map with scrutiny. The ruckus outside essentially served as white noise.

'The closet... is pretty close to the kitchen. Why would it be installed like that in the first place? Really weird...' he observed.

He traced the outline of the house with his fingers on his phone. 'The stairs are at the east and west ends of the mansion... this used to be a haunted house? How do they get down these circular stairs like that? That's a whole bunch of whack...'

The mansion's outlines looked like an old telephone. He glided his index finger on the right end of the map. The square block on that end had this caption: "Washing Room". Right next to the washing room was the restroom. There was also a bathroom on the other end.

The largest rooms in there were the living room and the exercise room. Detective W, seeing nothing else of interest, went on to the second floor plan. The bedroom and the bathroom flanked the center guest room—the largest room on the second floor. Other bedrooms surrounded the second floor guest room.

There was also a closet in the guest room. Detective W looked at the guest room floor plan one more time and compared the first floor floor plan with the second floor floor plan. He realized one thing: the guest room closet and the first floor closet was in the exact spot.

He walked out of the guest room and observed the crime scene again. Meanwhile, you, Ha-Eun, and Ha-joon were talking with the three guests. Ha-joon typed on his phone as you asked the questions.

Detective W walked around asking the pathologists for the autopsy report. The pathologists tossed him a rough draft of the report. "So, Lily died around 8:45 p.m.... around five minutes after dinner. How did she die in the five minute timespan?"

You just finished the interrogation. "Boss, we're done here. Did you find anything good?"

Detective W stroked his chin. "I think I do... I just need to test my theory out somehow."

"Theory? What theory?" Ha-Eun asked.

"Just follow me and I will show you," Detective W said. He asked the other detectives if they found any other evidence.

A sharp-eyed detective with blue-rimmed glasses and a crisp blue suit gave Detective W a zip-lock bag with a small Swiss knife inside. "Anything else?" he gruffly said.

"Did you do fingerprint analysis yet? Otherwise, that's good. Can we take a look at the closet ourselves?"

"We are halfway done on our fingerprint analysis. We will let you know once we are done," the detective flashed him a thumbs up.

Detective W and you searched the closet. The only other thing you found was a wooden stud painted brown. On the closet ceiling were two rectangular, flat hooks.

"Cool, let's check upstairs," Detective W said. You followed him to the second floor guest room closet. For better lighting, Detective W turned on his phone flashlight.

On the ground was two large, gray metal cylinders on the floor. The cylinders were perpendicular to the doors and had evenly etched grooves on it. Inside the cylinders were pins. You tried tugging them off and found it to be impossible. The pins also seemed impossible to pull off. About a foot and a half away from each pin were grooves. They were big enough for your fingers.

"Okay..." Detective W said while looking at the closet floor. "My theory... should be correct. I haven't figured out the killer, but I've figured out the time lapse."

"What time lapse?" you asked.

Detective W realized he forgot to tell you about the evidence he found. He displayed the evidence for you, Ha-Eun, and Ha-joon.

You looked at the evidence and had an inkling of what the cylinders, pins, and floor grooves are supposed to be. Detective W saw your brightened expression and let you go ahead with your explanation. You paused for a moment, then spoke, "Boss... do tell me if I am wrong... but I think I know what those are supposed to be."

What secret could the second floor closet contain?